One of the most infamous tragedies in American manufacturing history is the Triangle shirtwaist factory fire of 1911. Are the details of the story accurately remembered? And what can we still learn from the incident today?
25 historians pick a surprising list
The 18-minute fire killed 146 people and spurred unions and legislators to push for better working conditions.
A fire at the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory in New York City killed 146 people on this day in history, March 25, 1911 — and ushered in a host of new workplace s
The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Workers who lost their lives in the 1911 factory fire are remembered at the Tenement Museum virtual tours.
To this day, the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire in New York on March 25, 1911, remains the deadliest industrial disaster in the city's history,
The 18-minute fire killed 146 people and spurred unions and legislators to push for better working conditions.
The Gothic Tea Society www.gothicteasociety.com 100 Years ago today there was a terrible tragedy. A fire killed 146 workers, mostly female immigrants. For a modern article on the 100 year remembrance go HERE Wiki says: The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire in New York City on March 25, 1911, was the deadliest industrial disaster in the history of the city of New York and resulted in the fourth highest loss of life from an industrial accident in U.S. history. The fire caused the deaths of 146 garment workers, who either died from the fire or jumped to their deaths. Most of the victims were recent immigrant Jewish and Italian women aged sixteen to twenty-three. Many of the workers could not escape the burning building because the managers had locked the doors to the stairwells and exits. People jumped from the eighth, ninth, and tenth floors. The fire led to legislation requiring improved factory safety standards and helped spur the growth of the International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union, which fought for better working conditions for sweatshop workers. The factory was located in the Asch Building, at 29 Washington Place, now known as the Brown Building, which has been designated a National Historic Landmark and a New York City landmark. The Triangle Waist Company factory occupied the eighth, ninth, and tenth floors of the Asch Building on the northwest corner of Greene Street and Washington Place, just to the east of Washington Square Park, in the Greenwich Village area of New York City. Under the ownership of Max Blanck and Isaac Harris, the factory produced women's blouses, known as "shirtwaists." The factory normally employed about 500 workers, mostly young immigrant women, who worked nine hours a day on weekdays plus seven hours on Saturdays. As the workday was ending on the afternoon of Saturday, March 25, 1911, a fire flared up at approximately 4:45 PM in a scrap bin under one of the cutter's tables at the northeast corner of the eighth floor. A large crowd of bystanders gathered on the street, witnessing sixty-two people jumping or falling to their deaths from the burning building. Louis Waldman, later a New York Socialist state assemblyman, described the scene years later: One Saturday afternoon in March of that year — March 25, to be precise — I was sitting at one of the reading tables in the old Astor Library... It was a raw, unpleasant day and the comfortable reading room seemed a delightful place to spend the remaining few hours until the library closed. I was deeply engrossed in my book when I became aware of fire engines racing past the building. By this time I was sufficiently Americanized to be fascinated by the sound of fire engines. Along with several others in the library, I ran out to see what was happening, and followed crowds of people to the scene of the fire. A few blocks away, the Asch Building at the corner of Washington Place and Greene Street was ablaze. When we arrived at the scene, the police had thrown up a cordon around the area and the firemen were helplessly fighting the blaze. The eighth, ninth, and tenth stories of the building were now an enormous roaring cornice of flames. Word had spread through the East Side, by some magic of terror, that the plant of the Triangle Waist Company was on fire and that several hundred workers were trapped. Horrified and helpless, the crowds — I among them — looked up at the burning building, saw girl after girl appear at the reddened windows, pause for a terrified moment, and then leap to the pavement below, to land as mangled, bloody pulp. This went on for what seemed a ghastly eternity. Occasionally a girl who had hesitated too long was licked by pursuing flames and, screaming with clothing and hair ablaze, plunged like a living torch to the street. Life nets held by the firemen were torn by the impact of the falling bodies. The emotions of the crowd were indescribable. Women were hysterical, scores fainted; men wept as, in paroxysms of frenzy, they hurled themselves against the police lines. The remainder waited until smoke and fire overcame them. The fire department arrived quickly but was unable to stop the flames, as there were no ladders available that could reach beyond the sixth floor. The fallen bodies and falling victims also made it difficult for the fire department to approach the building.
The youngest victims of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire were both 14 years old.
The site of the deadly Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire.
To this day, the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire in New York on March 25, 1911, remains the deadliest industrial disaster in the city's history,
The 18-minute fire killed 146 people and spurred unions and legislators to push for better working conditions.
The lessons learned from a New York tragedy.
The 1911 Triangle Shirtwaist Fire killed 146 workers, mostly immigrant women and girls trapped by fire, a collapsed fire escape, and locked doors, in a Greenwich Village garment factory. It marks a pivotal moment in 20th century history, at the nexus of concerns over labor exploitation, workplace safety, conditions of immigrant life, corruption in New … Continue reading "Shirtwaist Fashion, The ‘Gibson Girl’ and the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Disaster of 1911"
Wikipedia article about Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire
To this day, the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire in New York on March 25, 1911, remains the deadliest industrial disaster in the city's history,
The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire took place 105 years ago, on Mar. 25, 1911
On March 25, 1911, a fire swept through the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory in New York City, killing 146 men and women, many of them recent immigrants. It was later discovered that the workers faced many obstacles as they tried to flee the fire: Doors were locked by the factory's management and the fire escapes were inadequate. This catastrophe, which led to a public outcry, prompted updates to labor laws and reforms to fire and safety regulations.
The High School of Fashion Industries (formerly the Central High School of Needle Trades) is a New Deal building, which contains a well-known mural by
One-hundred-forty-six young immigrants died on this day in 1911 when a fire swept through the garment factory where they worked. You might be interested in The Best Resources For Learning About The…
To celebrate International Women's Day on 8th March, The Formations Company have put together for you a review of the history of this special day.
Frances Perkins discovered her calling after she witnessed one of the worst industrial disasters in American history.
To this day, the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire in New York on March 25, 1911, remains the deadliest industrial disaster in the city's history,
